Sunday, November 20, 2016

Before
leaving for Vanaravata, the Pandavas paid respect to all the elders
of Hastinapur.

In
the end the Pandavas met Vidura, the man who was wise beyond his age
and who through his extensive spy system knew almost everything which
happened in the kingdom of Hastinapur and outside it.

As
Vidura was blessing Yudhishtara, the eldest Pandava, a rather strange
thing happened.

The learned Vidura spoke in the language of the
Mlechchas, instead of the language spoken in Hastinapur. This
language was hardly known to anyone in the kingdom of Hastinapur and
the words of Vidura sounded like utter garble - except to one person.
The person for whom it was intended – Yudhishtara.

Yudhishtara,
the eldest Pandava knew the language of the Mlechchas and was
steadily getting worried as he understood exactly what
Vidura was saying.

“You
need to know what your enemies are upto and avoid the dangers. And
remember that fire cannot destroy someone who is hiding under the
hole in the woods and when you are in a strange home it is best to be
like a jackal and make not one escape route, but make many ways out.”

Yudhishtara
stared at Vidura, who was studying his nephew with dangerous eyes as
Vidura continued in the same language, “Sometimes, son, it is best
to keep wandering from one place to another to acquire knowledge and
that way you would also keep your five senses safe.”

Yudhishtara
was silent as Vidura and Yudhishtara studied each other.

“I
understand!” Yudhishtara said in the same language, as a sudden
crinkly smile broke in Vidura’s face.

Soon
the Pandavas came out of the house of Vidura and bid goodbye to the
Pandavas and their mother Kunti, as they set out to Vanaravata.

The
Pandavas then were out of the kingdom of
Hastinapur and were walking
when a confused Kunti came to her son.

“What
was it that Vidura said?” she asked Yudhishtara. “And I did not
even know what it was that you said in return.”

Yudhishtara
saw the kingdom of Hastinapur far behind him and took in a deep
breath as he saw his mother and brothers
look at him, questioningly.

“There
is going to be a fire. A huge fire and we need to escape it!”
Yudhishtara said finally.

*********

The
Pandavas were met by a man called Purochana in the city of
Vanaravata. He saw the
Pandavas and told them that he was here to help them. The
Pandavas then met all the high officials in the city of Vanravata and
the people were all glad to see the Pandavas.

Finally
with Purochana’s help, they went to the palace built for them in the
city of Vanravata.

It was a beautiful palace, by any stretch of
imagination.

Yudhishtara
saw the palace and nodded at Purochana. “We would like to inspect
the palace ourselves!” Yudhishtara told Purochana. “It has been
built so beautifully.”

Purochana
nodded not saying anything as he walked away leaving the six of them
alone.

Hurriedly,
the Pandavas entered the palace and they were all shell shocked
because they made a sad discovery. The beautiful
palace was combustible and
was built out of resin, hemp, straw, bamboo and butter and lac!

All
it needed was a tiny spark and the fire inside the palace would be
uncontrollable and destroy everything
inside it.

Yudhishtara
turned to Bheema, “We need to build an underground tunnel out of
the palace.In
secret. No one can know about it. To the outside world we act
normally, but we work on the tunnel everyday.”

“Tunnel?”
Bheema asked as Yudhishtara nodded.

“After
we escape the fire, then what?” Bheema asked his eyes popping with
anger.

Yudhishtara
remembered Vidura’s words.

“We
keep moving.” Yudhishtara said slowly. “Right now, we have
neither power nor rank in the country. Once, everyone believes that
we are dead, no one would be looking for us. Then, we can move freely
and we go to all the kingdoms in the country, to build alliances and
make ourselves strong!”

*******

Purochana
was being very friendly to the Pandavas and he tried to make their
stay as comfortable as possible. As he was talking animatedly about
the place, a strange man came to see Yudhishtara.

Yudhishtara
stared at the man who with his hard and coarse hands looked to be
some sort of manual labourer. What really surprised Yudhishtara was
that the man introduced himself in the Mlechcha language.

Yudhishtara
left Purochana and turned to the newcomer and took him to the inside
quarters and for what it was worth replied in the language of the
Mlechchas.

“Who
are you?” Yudhishtara asked the man.

“I
am a miner!” the man said
in the same language, “and I was sent by Vidura to help you.”

A
beautiful smile broke out in the face of Yudhishtara as he nodded
happily at the man.

And
so with the help of the miner,
right in the middle of the palace, the Pandavas dug a tunnel out of
the palace. They hid the hole of the tunnel by a slab to make sure
that Purochana who was living outside the palace, did not know what
they were doing.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Duryodhana,
the eldest Kaurava was really jealous of his cousins – the
Pandavas. After the death of Pandu and Madri, the Pandavas had
returned from the forests with their mother Kunti, Duryodhana just
could not bear it. Duryodhana saw the Pandavas as his enemy and did
not care who knew it.

Duryodhana’s
insane jealousy and eating him up and it was not helped by the fact
that Bheema, the second Pandava, was ferociously strong. Even as a
young boy, Bheema was a very strong and Bheema found the puny
Kauravas very funny.

Bheema
had been born and brought up in the forests. The rough jungles had
just made Bheema more stronger and Bheema had nothing but disdain for
the soft Kauravas, who had known nothing other than the the luxuries
of the palace.

Bheema
used to bully the Kauravas and the Kauravas were really terrified on
him. In fact, whenever they used to see Bheema, the Kauravas used to
hide on the treetops. And Bheema would still not leave the Kauravas
alone. Bheema used to stand at the base of the tree and with his
ferocious strength, Bheema used to shake the very tree.

The
Kaurava boys used to fall down from the tree like fruits and look
shaken and run away terrified of the young Bheema who would laugh at
the fleeing Kaurava princes.

And
all these events only made Duryodhana hate the Pandavas even more.

Duryodhana’s
hatred for the Pandavas and Bheema is particular went so bad that
when they all started learning warfare and the science of the
administration of the kingdom from Dronacharya, Duryodhana actually
tried killing Bheema.

Duryodhana
poisoned the food which was to be eaten by Bheema and when the
drugged Bheema fell unconscious, Duryodhana tied up Bheema’s hands
and feet and pushed the second Pandava inside the river.

And
without a second glance, Duryodhana walked away from the place.

Luckily
for Bheema, the place under the river where Duryodhana had pushed him
had a huge kingdom of snakes. The snakes bit the unconscious Bheema
as he sunk inside the waters. The poison in Bheema’s body and the
poison of the snake acted as antidotes to each other and the poison
from Bheema system was completely gone, when he reached the snake
kingdom.

And
on talking with the snakes, Bheema realized that he was related to
the snakes through his mother – Kunti. The snakes were very glad
for their new visitor though he had come to them in unfortunate
circumstances. In honour of their new guests, the snakes fed Bheema
with the nectar of the snakes. It is believed that this drink
actually made Bheema even more strong than he previously was.

And
that was how Duryodhana’s first plan of killing Bheema had badly
backfired. After pushing Bheema into the river, Duryodhana came back
to the palace and he claimed to have no knowledge of what had
happened to Bheema. Kunti and the Pandavas were distraught and they
kept combing the river for some signs of Bheema and that was when
they had some suspicion of foul play. But Duryodhana was quiet and
said absolutely nothing.

Duryodhana
almost thought that he had gotten away with it, when the impossible
happened. Bheema came back from the dead. And not only that, Bheema
came back even more stronger than before. And a little wiser.

The
event was an eye-opener – both to the Pandavas and to Duryodhana.

Duryodhana
realized that he would have to be more careful of disposing off his
annoying cousins in the future because they seemed to be lucky and
the Pandavas realized that Duryodhana was really insane in his
jealousy and that there was no line that Duryodhana would not cross
if it meant the destruction of the Pandavas.

That
was the reason, the Pandavas never spoke of the incident again. The
Pandavas feared that if they spoke about Duryodhana’s involvement
in the whole affair, Duryodhana might do something even more
horrific.

But
just because the Pandavas were silent, it did not make Duryodhana
change his mind. Duryodhana was as bad as ever and his plans if
anything were becoming more and more bold and the next time,
Duryodhana had an even more audacious plan to kill the Pandavas.

Duryodhana
spoke highly of a place called Varanavatha where the huge festival
was to be organized in honour of Lord Shiva. Duryodhana manipulated
things that he sent the Pandavas to Varanavatha and at the time the
Pandavas went there, Duryodhana had a beautiful palace built. The
palace was one of the most beautiful constructions of its times and
definitely the most combustible – because the palace was made of
lac.

And
Duryodhana was patient this time. He did not want any of the events
to ever lead back to him, which was why Duryodhana wanted for a whole
year. The Pandavas had lived in the lac palace of Vanaravatha for an
entire year when Duryodhana through one of his men called Purochana,
set his plan in action.

In
the dead of the night, when a huge feast was conducted during the
day, when Duryodhana was sure that the Pandavas were fast asleep,
Duryodhana asked Purochana to set the entire palace on fire.

In
the dead of the night, a fire broke out in the lac palace of
Varanavata. The lac palace was built completely of things which could
burn and burn very easily. Which was why, the time between the
commencement of the fire and the spreading of the fire was too short.

The
people from Varanavata were horrified when they saw the entire lac
palace go down in flames. The people tried dousing the flames of the
palace and that was when they discovered something impossible – the
fire was spreading too fast. Far too fast, than in the case of a
normal fire. The fire kept raging and there was no part of the palace
which even escaped the fire.

The
next morning a charred body of a woman with five men were inside the
palace and the people were terrified.

They
all realized that the Pandavas were gone and this time, there was no
one who could bring them back. And the fire had started right from
the room where Purochana was sleeping, who was also killed in the
fire.

So
the entire kingdom believed that the evil Purochana had set fire to
the lac palace and Purochana himself killed in the fire.

Back
in Hastinapur, Duryodhana could not hide his glee when he heard of
the six dead bodies found inside the lac palace. And with the death
of Purochana, Duryodhana realized that another loose end was tied up
and this time there was nothing which could lead back to him. And
Duryodhana was actually happy. He felt that he had got rid of the
Pandavas in a masterly stroke and he had done with with absolutely no
suspicions leading back to him.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Tara
felt a sudden silence. And this time the fear which gripped her heart
was palpable. She knewwhat
had happened as she struggled with herself.

“Mother!”
The young Angada said as Tara stared at her son blankly, not able to
control herself. “You are hurting me,” Angada said trying to pull
himself away from his mother’s tight, numbing grasp.

Angada
stopped talking as a single tear flowed from his mother’s eye as
she saw her son. “I told him,” Tara whispered. “I told him not
to pick this fight,” Tara whimpered.

“Mother!”
Angada asked confused. “What is….?”

Angada
turned as he saw some guards shouting and rushing inside the room,
“My Lady!” the Vanara Guard shrieked, “Vali has fallen!” The
guard shouted. “The great Vali has fallen!”

Tara
was struggling to compose herself as her son was watching the guard
numb, “NO!” The little Angada shouted as tears came to Tara’s
eyes. “MY FATHER CANNOT DIE!” The young Angada wailed.

“Come
with me, Angada!” Tara said leading her son, trying to control
herself.

And
that was when a Vanara guard stopped Tara. “My Lady, please listen
to me!” the guard said. “The victor is Sugriva! If he comes….”
The guard swallowed as he saw Angada, “Crown your son as the King
first and then Sugriva would be able to do nothing!”

Beyond
the numbing pain, Tara felt burning hatred fill her heart as she
studied the guard murderously. “That is my husband who is dying
there,” Tara said viciously. “I need to see him!” Tara said as
she pushed the guard aside taking her son with her.

Tara
never thought she would see this scene – Vali was lying on the
ground a sharp arrow in his chest and Vali was gasping for breath.

Beside
Vali stood Sugriva with a garland around his neck with a very strange
expression on his face.

Tara
studied the man beside Sugriva – a very tall, dark exceedingly
handsome man with intense dark eyes – Lord Rama of Ayodhya and that
was when Tara realized that Vali was speaking to Lord Rama. “You
should have come to me, Lord Rama,” Vali told the man struggling to
breathe as Angada ran towards his father trying to help him.

“If
you had come to me,” Vali repeated. “I would have defeated
whoever had taken your wife Sita, even if it was Ravana himself and
brought them to you in a jiffy!” Vali told Lord Rama. “Your
father – King Dasharatha helped my father Lord Indra in defeating
monsters. I would have helped you in finding Sita!”

Tara
was struggling with her tears as she bent down near her husband
clutching his trembling fingers. For the first time, their eyes met
as Tara could see regret in his eyes. The regret turned to anger as
Vali turned to Lord Rama,

“THIS
VANARA,” Vali shouted pointing at Sugriva, “It was because of
this Vanara that my wife was made a widow and on top of that, Sugriva
also took my kingdom,” Vali hissed angrily drawing an angry breath.
“What was my crime when I wanted to kill him?” Vali demanded.

“He
is your younger brother, Vali,” The voice of Lord Rama was calm.
“Sugriva had promised to look up to you. He is like your son.”
Lord Rama’s voice was strong now. “Even if he had made a mistake
you should have forgiven him, Vali!”

“Under
the authority of King Bharatha, my brother, I can spread
righteousness and destroy evil everywhere. And I cannot take your
help as a king,” Lord Rama told Vali, “You lost your kingdom when
you stepped down the throne to fight Mayavi! You are not a king after
that and you cannot help me,” Lord Rama told Vali.

Vali
sighed. That was when Vali managed to look at his wife.

“This
is for Ruma,” Tara told Vali softly. Tara shook her head unable to
stop her tears. “You should not have taken her!” Tara said as she
hugged her dying husband tightly, sobs racking her entire body. She
watched Sugriva sadly and turned to Vali. “You should not have
exiled Sugriva!”

Hanuman,
the minister of Sugriva, came towards Tara and shook his head sadly.
“What is done is done, Tara! Think about your future! Think about
the future of your son,” Hanuman said as Vali drew another hazy
breath, barely looking alive. “Angada should be crowned as the
king!” Hanuman said.

Tara
shook her head sadly not willing to let her husband go. “No! With
Sugriva alive, it is not advisable to crown my son as the king!”
Tara said simply.

Vali
and Tara exchanged glances and this time there was a faint smile from
Vali.

“Support
Sugriva, my love!” Vali told Tara nodding his head.

Tara
said nothing as Vali turned to Angada. “You will help your uncle,
Angada!” Sugriva said as Angada was mute, unable to say anything.

Vali
turned to Sugriva. “I should not have exiled you Sugriva,” Vali
said as Tara wept suddenly.

Vali
stopped her and turned to Sugriva, “There is something I have never
told anyone, Sugriva. But you should know. Tara is my strength! She
knows everything and she understands everything. If she says
something, then it is right.” Vali shook his head tiredly. “Do
not question Tara. And whatever she wants should be done for if she
says that something will happen, it will happen!”

Vali
turned to Lord Rama, “Please make sure that Tara is well taken care
of and that no one hurts her.”

With
that Vali breathed his last.

[It
is believed that Vali saw Lord Rama in the Vishwaroopa [The total
universe inside Lord Rama showing him as the beginning and the end of
the universe] before he died and hence attained salvation. Sugriva
was crowned as the king of the Vanaras and Angada was made the heir
apparent to the throne.]

However,
the true diplomacy of Tara came after the death of Vali.

After
Sugriva was crowned as the king of Kishkinda, Rama believed that
Sugriva would keep his word and try to find the whereabouts of Sita.
And it was the four months of the year where there was continuous
rain. [In those days, no traveling was done during the intense four
month rain period.]

Sugriva
after becoming the king was indulging himself in his palace and had
completely forgotten all about his promise to Lord Rama.

In
the forests, Lord Rama was waiting, sick with worry about his wife
and Lord Rama was waiting for some news from Sugriva. And finally
when there was no word from Sugriva, Lord Rama sent Lakshmana to talk
to Sugriva.

Just
before Lakshmana could come inside Kishkinda, Hanuman learnt about
Lakshmana’s arrival and had all the generals of the Vanara army
come to the capital.

And
when Lakshmana came inside Kishkinda, the next day, Lakshmana was
furious. More than furious as he saw Sugriva living the comforts of
the palace. And Lakshmana could see that Sugriva had forgotten
everything that he had promised Lord Rama and Lakshmana was painfully
reminded of his own elder brother who was in the forest, all alone
and pining for his wife.

Lakshmana
would have burnt down Kishkinda in his anger, if it had not been for
Tara who intercepted Lakshmana before he could meet Sugriva.

“Prince
Lakshmana,” Tara said bowing to Lakshmana.

“WHERE
IS SUGRIVA?” Lakshmana thundered angrily.

Tara
studied the angry prince and realized that Lakshmana was very angry
and could not be satisfied with words alone. Tara nodded to
Lakshmana, “Prince Lakshmana, you should realize that all the
generals and the troops of the Vanara army are coming to Kishkinda as
we speak. We will begin our search for Sita at the earliest, as soon
as all the troops are here!”

Lakshmana
was still furious as Tara continued, “Prince Lakshmana your brother
Lord Rama is a great man! And he has approached Sugriva for help in
fighting Ravana and his men.” Tara shook her head. “Please
prince, do not give way to your anger! As soon as the troops are
here, we would find Sita and we would start our campaign to get her
back.”

And
Tara continued speaking. She praised Rama and she also explained away
Sugriva’s inability to act quickly and she also subtly reminded
Lakshmana the fact that Rama needed the help of the Vanaras if he
hoped to get Sita back.

And
Tara explained it so well that as Lakshmana heard Tara, Lakshmana
calmed down. [In some versions it is even mentioned that Lakshmana
was reminded of his mother as he saw Tara and Lakshmana gave up his
anger.]

It
was only after Lakshmana left Kishkinda that Sugriva realized how
close Lakshmana had come to destroying the entire city. Then Sugriva
became serious and then he took over the command of his people and
sent them to all the parts of the country to find Sita.

That
day, a disaster was averted to Kishkinda, all because of Tara, the
Queen of Kishkinda.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

“Mother,
my father is no more?” The young Angad asked his mother Tara.

Tara
saw the innocent face of her young son, and felt a strange ache fill
her heart, “I told your father Vali, not to fight the demon at
night! I told him demons were powerful at night,” Tara struggled to
control herself as she saw her young son sitting before her, “But
Vali did not listen!” Tara said crying openly.

Ruma,
the first wife of Sugriva, hugged the two of them. “Angad, your
father was a great Vanara! And do not worry that Vali is not there
with you now! Sugriva will take good care of you and your mother!”
Ruma said watching the two of them.

“Sugriva
needs to focus on his kingdom,” Tara told Ruma, “He is the king
of the Vanaras now and Sugriva should not give in to his grief….!”

Tara
did not even finish talking when a horrendous scream filled the
kingdom.

Both
Angad and Ruma were terrified when they heard the unearthly screams.
But Tara was feeling numb. She knewthis
voice. She knew this voice too well.

********

All
the citizens of Kishkinda were scared as they raced outside their
homes.

“YOU
EVIL VANARA! HOW DARE YOU?” the wild, disheveled very angry looking
Vanara was shouting outside Kishkinda on top of his voice.

Sugriva
could not believe what he was seeing. He nearly stumbled as he saw
who was before him.

“VALI?”
Sugriva yelled partly numb from joy and partly unable to believe what
he was seeing.

Sugriva
ran towards Vali joyously and that was when Sugriva was in for a
shock.

Vali
rudely pushed Sugriva to the ground and looked at him with angry,
hatred filled eyes.

“NOW
YOU PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT ME?” Vali bellowed loudly as Sugriva was
staring blankly at Vali. Vali angrily pulled up his brother almost
choking Sugriva,
“I do not think you would be so foolish as to believe that Mayavi
would be able to defeat me!” Vali said snarling. “You planned
this, didn’t you? You closed the cave door thinking that I would
rot inside the cave! And you
thought by doing that
you would rule my kingdom?” Vali sneered
angrily.

It
was at that time that Vali caught
sight of Tara inside the palace and grew even more angry as he threw
Sugriva back angrily. “DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT THAT WAS GOING TO
STOP ME?” Vali shouted.

“Br...Brother,”
Sugriva stammered gasping for air, “Please listen!” Sugriva took
a painful breath and looked at his brother, “I thought that you
perished in that cave,” Sugriva said as Vali snorted, “I did not
want Mayavi to come back and haunt our kingdom. That is the reason I
closed the cave door. Please….”

Sugriva
could speak no more as Vali nearly choked him again.
“Lies!” Vali yelled, “You speak nothing but
lies!”
Vali pushed Sugriva out of his palace.

Vali
pulled his hand back in another punch when Sugriva was really scared
and pushed himself back.

Sugriva
feared for his life and he knew that the only place Vali could not
come was Rishyamukha where the ashrama of Sage Matanga was situated.
Sugriva and Hanuman lived there and over time, Sugriva, the beloved
brother of Vali became bitter towards Vali.

Hanuman,
on the other hand, met Lord Rama and Lakshmana who were traveling in
the forests in search of Sita. (Sita had been kidnapped by Ravana,
the king of Lanka)

Sugriva
and Rama reached a pact whereby Lord Rama agreed to kill Vali on
behalf of Sugriva and make Sugriva the king of Kishkinda and Sugriva
promised to help Rama in finding Sita.

Armed
with the promise from Lord Rama, Sugriva came back to Kishkinda and
challenged Vali to a fight.

Tara
was silent. In fact she did not even look like she was paying
attention to her husband’s ranting.

“What?”
Vali demanded as Tara said nothing.

“I
do not think you should fight Sugriva,” Tara told her husband
finally.

That
nearly stopped Vali. He stopped ranting and turned his attention to
his wife, “What did you just now say?” Vali asked Tara.

“I
said you should not fight Sugriva,” Tara said.

Vali
was watching his wife as he was getting more and more angry as Tara
continued, “We know that Sugriva has taken the help of the Prince
Rama of Ayodhya,” Tara said calmly, “Rama is an avatar of Lord
Vishnu and I am sure that he would be helping Sugriva in his battle,”
Tara shook her head. “It would be unadvisable to fight Sugriva when
he is protected by Lord Rama!”

Vali
went near his wife standing very close to her, “You know I would
never hesitate to fight when challenged!” Vali told her. “It
would not matter to me whether the challenger is Lord Vishnu
himself!” Vali said shaking his head as he could see a single tear
in Tara’s eyes. “Even if Angad were to challenge me, I would
fight him,” Vali said and walked away without a second glance.

It
almost seemed like Tara worried about nothing. Because Vali won the
first fight almost effortlessly. Sugriva realizing that he could
possibly end up losing his life, ran away from the fight. (Lord Rama
was hiding behind a tree and waiting to shoot Vali as Vali and
Sugriva were fighting. Unfortunately, Lord Rama could not distinguish
between the two Vanaras while they were fighting and did not fire
during the first fight as Lord Rama was afraid to kill Sugriva by
mistake. It was to solve this problem that Sugriva wore a garland,
the next time he challenged Vali to a fight.)

Once
Sugriva came back for the fight, this time Tara was adamant, “It
does not make sense!” she said watching Vali and for the first time
there was fear in her eyes.

“What
does not?” Vali demanded angrily. “That Vanara does not have
sense and keeps coming back to fight….”

“It
does not make sense!” Tara interrupted Vali, “Why would a man who
was so completely defeated by you come back for a fight so soon?”
Tara asked Vali frowning.

“I
think you should end
your enmity with Sugriva,” Tara said with sharp troubled eyes,
“Make him the crown prince of Kishkinda and make friends with Lord
Rama,” Tara said clutching Vali’s hands tightly as Vali could
feel her hands trembling.

Strangely
Vali smiled at Tara, “I know how much you love me! But as I told me
before, I will never ignore it when someone has challenged me to a
fight.” Vali said walking away from the place. Vali stopped at the
door for a few seconds, “I will not kill Sugriva! I will just crush
his pride!” Vali said walking away from the room.

The
two Vanaras fought and this time there was no mistaking in Lord
Rama’s aim.

Tara,
the Queen of Kishkinda, was the wife of Vali, the Vanara King. She is
one of the most under-spoken and definitely one of the most brilliant
women in the Ramayana epic.

Her
story starts with a buffalo demon by name Dundhubi.

Dundhubi
was so arrogant and vain that he believed that he was strongest man
in the world. The foolish demon went to the King of the Oceans.

“I
will fight you and prove that I am the greatest warrior in the
world!” Dundhubi said as he watched the Ocean waters, arrogantly.

The
king of the Oceans rose up from the waters and shook his head. “I
am not capable of giving you the fight that you want. King Himavan,
the king of the mountains is the right person for that task.” The
King of the Ocean said.

“Himavan?”
Dundhubi asked in a sneering tone.

“Yes!”
The King of the Ocean nodded. “He is the father-in-law of Lord
Shiva himself and he shelters the sages in his caves and he has power
of the mountains. He is the right person for you to fight.”

Dundhubi
looked angrily at the King of the Ocean for the few minutes and then
without a second glance, turned away from there.

Like
an arrow shot from a bow, Dundhubi landed straight in the door steps
of Himavan. Yelling hoarsely, Dundhubi pushed himself towards the
mountains and pulled up rocks from the mountain.

“Give
me a fight, King Himavan!” Dundhubi yelled. “The king of the
Ocean said that you were the best person for me to fight with. Which
is why I have come here. Fight me, so that I can prove to the world
that I am the strongest person in the world.” Dundhubi said
haughtily.

King
Himavan watched the power hungry demon for a few minutes.

“Go
to the city of Kishkinda. There you will find the son of Indra.”
Himavan said with shining eyes. “His name is Vali.” Himavan
smiled without meaning to and continued. “He will give you a
fight.”

Dundhubi
had no idea what a huge mistake he was about to make, as he
approached the city of Kishkinda.

Meanwhile
back in the city of Kishkinda, Vali was in his palace fast asleep
with his wives. It was at that time that a loud roar was heard
through the entire kingdom.

Being
the king of the Vanaras, Vali ran outside of his palace and found
Dundhubi there, looking fiercely at him. Vali’s wives followed him
as they were standing around Vali to help him in case of need.

“Give
me a fight.” Dundhubi yelled loudly. He then saw Vali and his wives
and snorted. “I came here thinking that you would be able to give
me a fight.” Dundhubi snorted again. “You were asleep. I do not
deem it worthy to fight a man who is half asleep.” Dundhubi said
trying to walk away.

Vali
was enraged as he saw the buffalo headed demon. “You dare make fun
of me? You think I need to be awake to fight a pathetic creature like
you?” Vali demanded angrily as he pulled the golden pendant he wore
around his neck, coming forward.

Vali
realized that the foolish demon really did not know much about him.
The pendant that Vali was wearing was no ordinary pendant. It was a
gift from his father – Indra. The power of the pendant was such
that if any person who challenged the person wearing the pendant, the
challenger would lose half his strength.

Without
further talk, Vali engaged Dundhubi in a fight, then and there. And
it was a really gruesome fight. Though Dundhubi tried to hurt Vali,
Vali was way more powerful. In no time at all, Vali hurled the badly
injured Dundhubi, far back. In a few more minutes, Vali effortlessly
won the fight against Dundhubi and killed the demon.

And
then Vali proved his actual strength. Vali lifted the dead demon and
flung him far away.

And
that was Vali’s mistake.

Because
Dundhubi’s body landed in the ashram of the Sage Matang.

The
sage was angry because that disturbed his meditation. Furious on
seeing his hermitage destroyed, the sage used the powers of his
meditation and realized who had done this.

“I
curse you, Vali. And I also curse any of your friends in this
forest.” the sage thundered angrily. “If any of you ever come
within one “yojana” (a measure of distance) of my hermitage, you
would be petrified.” the sage cursed.

Vali’s
Vanara friends were living in the forest and when they heard the
words of the sage, they all hurried away from the forest and they
told Vali all about the curse of the sage.

Vali
tried apologizing to the sage. But it was of no use. The sage was
adamant and the curse was not even modified.

Many
days after this event, another demon called Mayavi challenged Vali to
a fight. And this time Vali was in his court in the kingdom. Not
shying away from the challenge, Vali fought the demon and easily
defeated the demon.

Facing
defeat, the demon fled the kingdom. Vali was however not satisfied
and he and his brother Sugriva gave chase to Mayavi.

Mayavi
fled into a cave slightly further away from the kingdom.

Vali
was about to enter the cave after the demon, when he called upon his
brother Sugriva. “Though the demon is tired and has lost a lot of
blood, be careful.” Vali told his brother. “If I do not make it
out of the cave, close the cave and go back to Kishkinda.”

Sugriva
was speechless but before he could say anything, Vali went inside the
cave.

And
inside the cave, Vali and Mayavi, fought. Sugriva was guarding the
cave outside. The fight went on, not for a day or two but for twenty
eight days.

And
suddenly on the twenty eighth day, from inside the cave, came a blood
curdling scream.

Sugriva
was getting nervous outside the cave. And he thought of the worst
when he heard the scream. He was sure that his brother was no more.
Sugriva closed the mouth of the cave with a huge rock and ran back to
the Kishkinda.

He
told the people all that had happened there.

And
as Vali was no more, Sugriva being the younger brother was crowned as
the king of Kishkinda.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Shumbha
and Nishumbha were shocked to see the next round of warriors also
come back terrified. “Flee! Run away from the woman! Otherwise in
the desire for this woman you would lose everything! Your friends,
your kingdom and even your life! If you do not give up now, your
entire race will be extinguished!” They told the two asuras.

Suddenly,
one of the soldiers turned to Shumbha, “Your boon! It protects you
only from the male of any species! She is the Goddess! Goddess Maha
Maya! The Goddess who has come as your death!” The soldier said
with certainty.

“FOOLS!”
Shumbha yelled at them loudly, “You are running away because your
desire to live is strong! Go! Run away! Run and hide in the Patala.”
Shumbha told them in a sneering tone. “You are talking like it was
fate which brought the woman here! But I am not a fool to believe in
fate! I will fight! I will sent Rakthabija to fight the woman!”
Shumbha yelled.

Rakthabija
had a very strange boon - one that made him a formidable opponent. He
had a boon that every drop of blood which Rakthabija spilled on the
earth would give rise to another asura as strong and powerful as
Rakthabija himself.

Seeing
Rakthabija come, Goddess Kalika blew her conch shell loudly. So loud
that it almost scared the other soldiers. But Rakthabija was
unperturbed.

He
went towards Goddess Kalika and shook his head, “Do you think I am
scared of this? I will ask only once,” Rakthabija said in a
dangerous voice. “Turn yourself over to my Lord or I will kill
you!”

There
was no mistaking it. The two Goddesses laughed wildly at Rakthabija.
“Do not boast! Fight!” The Goddess yelled at him.

Within
a few minutes of battle, Rakthabija was lying unconscious in the
battlefield! Terror seized the remaining asuras as they screamed and
let out distress signals. Rakthabija was taken off the field for
treatment.

Shumbha
who was watching this from his palace turned to his guards. “Call
the Kamvojas and the Kalakeyas to fight for us,” Shumbha said
letting out a sharp breath.

Pursuant
to Shumbha’s wishes, the Kamvojas and the Kalakeyas came to battle.

Seeing
the army march towards the two women, the other women also joined the
battle. All the wives of the Devas joined the battle - Brahmani came
on a swan with the powers of Brahma, Vaishnavi with the powers of
Vishnu came on Garuda. The wife of Kartikeyan - Kaumari came with
weapons and she was mounted on a peacock. Indrani, Varahi,
Narasimhi…. They all came and they all came blazing and ready for
war. (These Goddesses are called Matrikas or Mother Goddesses. They
are the powers of the Gods.)

Lord
Shiva appeared before the women and encouraged them to finish the
battle as quick as possible. That was when Goddess Ambika spoke with
Lord Shiva, “Lord Shiva! Though Shumbha and Nishumbha have fought
repeatedly with me, I wish to give them a chance to live. Go to them
as my messenger and tell them to stop fighting or that I would kill
them. This is the last chance I am giving them!” Ambika said.

Lord
Shiva went to the asuras but the asuras paid no heed to the wise
words of the Lord.

Then
the Devis started massacring the asuras on the battlefield,
mercilessly. Soon the air was filled with the screams and shouts of
the asuras who could not escape from the warrior Goddesses.

Rakthabija
who was in his camp heard the screams of his people and raced outside
towards the battlefield.

The
first Goddess whom Rakthabija saw was Vaishnavi and he hurled his
Shakthi weapon at the Goddess. Vaishnavi stopped the weapon and
hurled her Sudarshana Chakra at the asura. At the same time Indrani,
also attacked him as Chamundi destroyed Rakthabija’s weapons.

And
Rakthabija’s blood fell on the earth.

The
Devas who were watching the battle were shocked because a few
thousand Rakthabijas surrounded the Matrikas and the Goddess Ambika
and Goddess Kalika.

The
Devas were sure that all was lost…

Goddess
Ambika turned to Kalika, “As soon as we fire on Rakthabija and he
starts bleeding, drink all the blood of Rakthabija and make sure
nothing falls on the earth! Me and the other Matrikas would injure
the asura continuously!” Goddess Ambika told the other Goddess.

And
Goddess Kalika carried out her instructions perfectly. As the other
Matrikas injured Rakthabija, she made sure none of Rakthabija’s
blood fell on the earth.

Within
a very short time, the tide of the battle turned.

The
Matrikas hacked just about anything in their path and soon the real
Rakthabija was the only one left along with the other Asura soldiers.

And
Goddess Ambika showed no mercy to Rakthabija and killed him too.

Both
Shumbha and Nishumbha came to battle with their own armies and
Nishumbha’s army attacked the Devis first. And as was the rule of
war, Shumbha watched the war.

The
battle was almost an anticlimax because after so much destruction,
the Goddesses destroyed Nishumbha almost easily.

Shumbha
watched the entire scene shell shocked and numb.

Shumbha
drove up on his chariot and saw the beautiful Goddess Ambika and was
unable to pull out his weapons. “I cannot fight you. Your beauty
distracts me, Lady!” Shumbha told the Goddess.

The
Goddess laughed, “Even during a battle, you are unable to fight
dispassionately.” She turned to Goddess Kalika, “You are fierce!
I think you should fight him. I will watch.” The Goddess said.

There
was a short, supercharged battle between the Goddess and Shumbha and
the Goddess first broke Shumbha’s chariot with her club and then
without any hesitation killed Shumbha too….

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